William Blake Masterpieces of Art


Book Description

New edition of William Blake in the popular Masterpieces of Art series. Rich and delicate, ethereal and muscular, the art of William Blake is as fascinating as the philosophies threading through his poetry and prophetic works. Presented here in this magnificent new collection, his vivid paintings and gently weaving illustrations are imprinted in the consciousness of Romantic art, but their impact on Gothic literature remains as strong and quixotic as the artist himself.




75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know


Book Description

Let Your Faith Be Moved by the Masterpieces Art becomes a masterpiece when it stands the test of time and challenges its viewers to see the world from a new perspective. The vast legacy of human expression is therefore a rich resource of introspection and wisdom for Christians today. 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know anthologizes some of humanity’s most influential and renowned works of art. Terry Glaspey masterfully analyzes how each piece responds to the reality of the human condition and Christian truth. Glaspey examines architecture, plays, novels, paintings, films, and even albums, evoking how some probe the dark corners of human suffering, while others capture the mystery, beauty, and wonder of life. Each selection is universally revered for its craftsmanship and ubiquitously esteemed across both time and cultures. From Rembrandt’s The Return of the ProdigalSon to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison, every masterpiece reveals some truth that has both enriched the Christian faith and left an indelible mark on the legacy of artistic achievement. Through engaging these masterpieces, Christians today can enrich their own faith with the creativity of history’s brilliant artists. This book serves as both historian and biographer, as devotional and art criticism. May this book be a modest doorway into a world of deeper appreciation, a guide to the treasures of our tradition that enriches both your faith and understanding of the human experience.




The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Book Description

This monumental new book is the first to celebrate the greatest and most iconic paintings from the encyclopedic collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, one of the largest, most important, and most beloved museums in the world. This impressive volume's broad sweep of material, all from a single museum, makes it at once a universal history of painting and the ideal introduction to the iconic masterworks of this world-renowned institution. More than 1,000 lavish color illustrations and details of 500 masterpiece paintings, created over 5,000 years in cultures across the globe, are presented chronologically from the dawn of civilization to the present. These works represent a grand tour of painting from ancient Egypt and classical antiquity and prized Byzantine and medieval altarpieces, to paintings from Asia, India, Africa and the Americas, and and the greatest European and North American masters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art includes and introduction and illuminating texts about each artwork written specially for this volume by Kathryn Calley Galitz, whose experience as both curator and educator at the Met makes her uniquely qualified. European and American artists include Duccio, El Greco, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Bronzino, Caravaggio, Turner, Velázquez, Goya, Rubens, Rembrandt, Brueghel, Vermeer, David, Renior, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, Degas, Sargent, Homer, Matisse, Picasso, Pollock, Jasper Johns, and Warhol. The artworks are arranged in rough chronological order, without regard to geography or culture, offering a visual timeline of the history of painting, from the earliest examples on pottery jars made over five thousand years ago to canvases on which the paint has barely dried. Freed from the constraints imposed by the physical layout of the Museum, the paintings resonate anew; and this chronological framework reveals unexpected visual affinities among the works. For those wishing to experience the unparalleled breadth and depth of the Met's collection, or study masterpieces of painting from throughout history, this important volume is sure to become a classic cherished by art lovers around the world.




Poems


Book Description

A Stirring Collection of Verse Embark on an evocative journey through life and landscape with Poems, an acclaimed anthology by the peerless Elizabeth Bishop. This anthology places the reader at the heart of experience, rendering the grandeur of human existence and our symbiotic relationship with the natural realm, through precision-tuned verse that oscillates between humor and sorrow, acceptance and affliction. Bishop's artistry immerses us in evocative landscapes, from the nostalgic corners of New England, her childhood abode, to the vibrant hues of Brazil and the lush expanses of Florida, her later homes. Rich in geographical motifs, the collection navigates the intertwined tapestry of human life and nature, revealing the poet's intrinsic ability to render chaos into form. A vital presence in twentieth-century literature, this anthology forges an essential window into Bishop's world, offering a comprehensive view into her profound career. Whether you’re new to Bishop's work or a longtime admirer, you’ll discover the unique perspective she brought to English-language poetry, solidifying this anthology as a definitive cornerstone in any poetry collection.




Poetry of Witness: The Tradition in English, 1500-2001


Book Description

A groundbreaking anthology containing the work of poets who have witnessed war, imprisonment, torture, and slavery. A companion volume to Against Forgetting, Poetry of Witness is the first anthology to reveal a tradition that runs through English-language poetry. The 300 poems collected here were composed at an extreme of human endurance—while their authors awaited execution, endured imprisonment, fought on the battlefield, or labored on the brink of breakdown or death. All bear witness to historical events and the irresistibility of their impact. Alongside Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth, this volume includes such writers as Anne Askew, tortured and executed for her religious beliefs during the reign of Henry VIII; Phillis Wheatley, abducted by slave traders; Samuel Bamford, present at the Peterloo Massacre in 1819; William Blake, who witnessed the Gordon Riots of 1780; and Samuel Menashe, survivor of the Battle of the Bulge. Poetry of Witness argues that such poets are a perennial feature of human history, and it presents the best of that tradition, proving that their work ranks alongside the greatest in the language.




Art Made from Books


Book Description

Artists around the world have lately been turning to their bookshelves for more than just a good read, opting to cut, paint, carve, stitch or otherwise transform the printed page into whole new beautiful, thought-provoking works of art. Art Made from Books is the definitive guide to this compelling art form, showcasing groundbreaking work by today's most showstopping practitioners. From Su Blackwell's whimsical pop-up landscapes to the stacked-book sculptures of Kylie Stillman, each portfolio celebrates the incredible creative diversity of the medium. A preface by pioneering artist Brian Dettmer and an introduction by design critic Alyson Kuhn round out the collection.




On the Level Everyday


Book Description

Ted Berrigan (1934-1983) is among his generation's most admired writers. In many respects, the directions followed in contemporary poetry were set out in the courses and workshops he taught at the Naropa Institute, the University of Michigan, Yale University, the City University of New York, the Stevens Institute of Technology, the University of Essex in England, Northeastern Illinois University, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and elsewhere. On the Level Everyday brings together key examples of his classroom lectures with other pieces, including two important talks delivered at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in New York. On the Level Everyday provides an introduction not only to Berrigan's poetics but also the problems of surviving as a poet in America today.




Sacred Braille


Book Description

What better gift could Our Lady have given us than the Rosary? The Rosary is Sacred Braille in that it is a miraculous juxtaposition of a language of prayer we can feel with our hands, joining word to touch. It is the Rosary to which our fingers may cling, as our flesh craves something tangible. The decades of the Rosary can be thought about, and, quite literally, felt, at the same time. While contemporary society separates the idea of "thinking" and "feeling," Scripture unites all functions in the heart. If we meditate on the words, "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart," (Lk 2:19) the thinking and feeling functions are joined. The Rosary, through engaging both thought and touch, unites our spiritual and physical natures; our thinking and feeling faculties.




Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: European Sculpture


Book Description

The J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection of European sculpture featured in this volume ranges in date from the late fifteenth century to the very early twentieth and includes a wide variety of media: marble, bronze, alabaster, terracotta, plaster, wood, ivory, and gold. The earliest sculpture represented is the mysterious Saint Cyricus by Francesco Laurana; the latest is a shield-like portrait of Medusa by the eccentric Italian sculptor Vincenzo Gemito. Among the more than forty works included in this handsomely illustrated volume are sculptures by Antico (Bust of a Young Man); Cellini (a Satyr designed for Fontainebleau); Giambologna (a Female Figure that may represent Venus); Bernini (Boy with a Dragon); and Carpeaux (Bust of Jean-Léon Gérôme). Well represented here is the Museum’s splendid collection of Mannerist and early Baroque bronzes, including such masterpieces as Johann Gregor van der Schardt’s Mercury and two superb works by Adriaen de Vries: Juggling Man and Rearing Horse. These works are indicative of the extraordinary quality of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection of post-Classical European sculpture.




Persian Poetry, Painting, and Patronage


Book Description

Commissioned by Prince Sultan Ibrahim Mirza in 1556, five Iranian court calligraphers devoted nine years to transcribing the poetic text of the great Persian classic, the Haft awrang (Seven Thrones), by the mystical poet Abdul-Rahman Jami. Then a team of gifted artists undertook the illumination and illustration of the manuscript. The masterpiece they created—housed today in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and known as the Freer Jami—is a sumptuous volume of some three hundred folios of elegant cursive script with richly decorated margins, thousands of multicolored section dividers, nine illuminated headings and nine colophons that begin and end the main divisions of the text, and twenty-nine full-scale paintings. This gorgeous book reproduces to scale the Freer Jami paintings, discusses each in detail, and introduces the manuscript’s patron and the artist’s painting style and meaning. Marianna Shreve Simpson describes the cultural and artistic milieu in which Sultan Ibrahim Mirza’s great manuscript was created and explores the special style and imagery of the illustrations. She then considers the poetic content and mystical significance of the related passages, how the paintings interpret the passages, and the unique and innovative aspects of each painting. In the themes and images of the paintings, Simpson finds, are clues to the message of the manuscript as a whole. This book also includes a timeline of milestones in the prince’s life and in the production of his Haft awrang. Copublished with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.